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Of BidenSince the feasibility of ‘s in 2024 is questionable, some left-leaning X users are supporting Kamala Harris.
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There are more and more memes about Harris, and for many it is clearly a bit ironic.
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But it also shows that some Democrats don’t like the vice president, but are eager to dump Biden.
If you happen to be a politically engaged X user (and most Americans aren’t), you probably noticed a shift in the mood on Tuesday.
Maybe it was the coconut and palm tree emojis popping up in usernames. Maybe you saw someone refer to their willingness to “exist in the context of everything you live in and everything that came before you.” Or it could be the declaration by some progressives, and even leftists, that they’re ready to join the “KHive,” the wave of online supporters of progressive users who fiercely defend Vice President Kamala Harris.
Joe Biden’s political position remains unclear after his disastrous debate performance, with some Democratic politicians calling for the president to step aside. Polls have also shown that large parts of the Democratic base want someone to replace Biden.
Harris isn’t necessarily a favorite among the party’s more online and progressive demographic. In theory, there are plenty of attractive options for Democrats if Biden were to step aside, and Harris has long been plagued by perceptions that she herself would do poorly if she took the lead.
But she may be the safest alternative to Biden.
Suddenly I feel like I’ve fallen out of a coconut tree and am ready to exist in a context where we live
—Carter Christensen (@CarterChristens) July 2, 2024
Under campaign finance laws, only Harris can seamlessly inherit the hundreds of millions of dollars and nationwide campaign apparatus that Biden’s team has spent months building.
Choosing Harris also gives you the advantage of not having to organize a Democratic Party convention, which could lead to chaos and infighting in the party just months before the November election.
A CNN poll released Tuesday also found Harris outperforming Biden in a hypothetical matchup with Trump. Rep. Jim Clyburn, the South Carolina Democrat who helped Biden win the nomination in 2020, said he would support Harris if Biden stepped aside.
Hence, a flood of memes emerged, similar to the pro-Biden “Dark Brandon” memes that surfaced in the summer of 2022, when the president was making major legislative progress.
Very funny to see everyone standing in line for Kamala, either sincerely or ironically. Hillary must be so angry
— Mr. Chau (@Srirachachau) July 2, 2024
For some newly formed Harris supporters, the feeling is genuine. They’ve decided Biden can’t win, and they’re ready to enthusiastically back the vice president.
One of them is Chi Ossé, a New York City council member who has called on Biden to resign and posted a video of Harris on Wednesday with the caption “coconut tree summer.”
Others are clearly ironic and decide that the best way to deal with the increasingly desperate situation is to post about it.
In fact, many of the X users tweeting their support for Harris aren’t exactly the vice president’s biggest fans. They’re certainly not KHive diehards, many of whom remain committed to Biden even after the debate.
Many of the memes circulating around X feature the term “coconut tree,” a reference to an oft-ridiculed speech Harris gave at a White House event in May 2023.
“My mother — she would sometimes harass us and say to us, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with you young people. Do you think you fell out of a coconut tree?'” Harris said. “You exist in the context of everything that you live in and what’s happened before you.”
Some have even called themselves “coconut-infected.”
Read the original article on Business Insider
